Herculaneum Yields Rare Prize

'Unique' Roman throne found at Villa dei Papiri

(ANSA) - Naples, December 5, 2007 - The ancient Roman city of Herculaneum near Naples has yielded its most precious prize in years - a richly carved wood-and-ivory throne. The discovery in the city's famed Villa dei Papiri ''is the first original throne from the Roman era that has been preserved for us,'' said Pompeii Superintendent Pietro Giovanni Guzzi. ''Until now we have only seen examples of this kind of throne in pictures, like the one in a Renaissance villa in Rome in which Aphrodite is shown sitting on one,'' he said. ''It is an absolutely exceptional find''. Guzzo said the throne's inlaid marble reliefs depicting figures celebrating the ancient Greek cult of Attis were also ''unique'' in themselves. Herculaneum, the lesser-known of the two cities buried by Vesuvius in 79 AD, has an advantage over its more famous neighbour in that the hot mud that encased it allowed fragile organic matter like wood and fabrics to survive. The partially excavated Villa dei Papiri is at the centre of a row between those who want to accelerate a hunt for lost classics and conservation experts who believe haste could in fact ruin the site. Best-selling British thriller writer Robert Harris is among those who think speed is of the essence if many unique papyri are not to be lost. The 'Fatherland' author, whose last novel 'Pompeii' weaves the wonders of Roman aqueducts into a pre-eruption whodunnit, thinks great works lost to posterity could be under the villa. The 250m-long building, the largest and most sumptuous villa found outside Rome, contains a huge swimming pool and thermal baths. It is thought to have belonged to Lucius Calpurnius Piso, father of Calpurnia, Julius Caesar's wife. The villa, found in the 18th century, half-buried again, and partially re-excavated in 1985, has already yielded some 1,800 papyri, half of which have been deciphered. Most of them are the work of 1st century BC Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, said by some to have taught the great Latin poet Virgil. Harris and others think there are many more papyri under the villa, the stuff of treasure hunters' dreams: the original version of Virgil's masterpiece the Aeneid, perhaps, most of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus - and maybe even Aristotle's book on comedy that was the crux of Umberto Eco's cowled skullduggery classic The Name of the Rose. Along with the Oxford-based Herculaneum Society, Harris is pressing for fresh digs at the site in the hope of finding such buried riches. But Andrew Wallace-Hadrill of the British School at Rome, a professor backed by the Pompeii archaeological superintendency and the Packard Humanities Institute, disagrees. ''It's great to compile a wish list of lost masterpieces and hope they're down there. The thing is, what if they aren't?'' he said recently. ''The chances are you dive in and find something pretty dull - more relatively obscure Epicurean philosophers, for instance.'' Wallace-Hadrill said the immediate challenge is to save the site and give its grungy modern surroundings a major makeover. Herculaneum is in a ''critical'' state, he said. ''We must at least ensure it survives for the next few years before considering further digs''.

'Mythical Roman cave' unearthed

'Mythical Roman cave' unearthed

Probes revealed a ceiling with a white eagle at the centre Enlarge Image

Italian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a female wolf suckled the city's twin founders.

The cave believed to be the Lupercal was found near the ruins of Emperor Augustus' palace on the Palatine hill.

The 8m (26ft) high cave decorated with shells, mosaics and marble was found during restoration work on the palace.

According to mythology Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she-wolf after being left on the River Tiber's banks.

The twin sons of the god Mars and priestess Rhea Silvia are said to have later founded Rome on the Palatine in 753 BC.

This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome - the legendary cave where the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus Francesco Rutelli Italian Culture Minister

The brothers ended up fighting over who should be in charge of the city, a power struggle which ended only after Romulus killed his brother.

In Roman times a popular festival called the Lupercalia was held annually on 15 February.

Young nobles called Luperci, taking their name from the place of the wolf (lupa), ran from the Lupercal around the bounds of the Palatine in what is believed to have been a purification ritual.

Cross-section of the Palatine hill showing cave

Naked, except for the skins of goats that had been sacrificed that day, they would strike women they met on the hands with strips of sacrificial goatskin to promote fertility.

'Astonishing history'

Presenting the discovery, Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said archaeologists were "reasonably certain" that the newly unearthed cave could be the Lupercal.

According to myth, Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she-wolf

"This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome, one of the most well-known cities in the world - the legendary cave where the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, saving them from death," he said.

"Italy and Rome never cease to astonish the world with continual archaeological and artistic discoveries, and it is incredible to think that we have finally found a mythical site which, by our doing so, has become a real place."

The ancient cave was found 16m (52ft) underground in a previously unexplored area during restoration work on the palace of Augustus, the first Roman emperor.

Exploration of the cavity was hampered, however, by fears that it might collapse and damage the foundations of the surrounding ruins.

Explorations were hampered by fears the cave might collapse Enlarge Image

Archaeologists therefore used endoscopes and laser scanners to study it, ascertaining that the circular structure was 8m (26ft) high and 7.5m (24ft) in diameter.

A camera probe later sent into the cave revealed a ceiling covered in shells, mosaics and coloured marble, with a white eagle at the centre.

"You can imagine our amazement - we almost screamed," said Professor Giorgio Croci, the head of the archaeological team working on the restoration of the Palatine, told reporters.

"It is clear that Augustus... wanted his residence to be built in a place which was sacred for the city of Rome," he added.

The Palatine hill is covered in palaces and other ancient monuments, from the 8th Century BC remains of Rome's first buildings to a mediaeval fortress and Renaissance villas.

After being closed for decades due to risk of collapse, parts of the hill will re-open to the public in February after a 12m-euro ($17.7m) restoration programme.

Ancient Shrine to The Graces might be Found!

Clay Pots Found at Ancient Greece Shrine

May 23, 2007

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Archaeologists in central Greece have discovered thousands of miniature clay pots and statuettes in the ruins of an ancient sanctuary possibly dedicated to the Three Graces, officials said on Wednesday. In volume, it is one of the richest finds in recent years.

Excavations near Orchomenos, about 80 miles northwest of Athens, revealed sparse remains of retaining walls from a small rural shrine, a Culture Ministry statement said.

But a rock-carved shaft was found to contain thousands of pottery offerings, dating from the early 5th century B.C. until at least the 3rd century B.C, the statement said.

The finds included miniature pots, clay figurines of women and animals, as well as clay busts and lamps.

"The identity of the deities worshipped there is not yet clear, but it is certain that they were goddesses associated with plant growth and fertility," the ministry statement said.

It said a famous sanctuary of the Three Graces _ deities of growth and beauty _ was known to have stood in ancient Orchomenos, and one of the offerings was inscribed with the name of Eurynome, mother of the Graces.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

Parrotstotle's Brain

The following sentences were used to program Parrotstotle for yesterday's class. Parrotstotle is only a rough draft, and i've already figured out ways to re-write these sentences so it can 'understand' them better . . . and also consider that my first 'translations' are sometimes off the mark and need fixin'. In any case, this is what I got out of Book VI, including a smattering of stuff from other books, plus some Greek background info I gave Parrotstotle for a reference.

Answerpad, the program-brain within Parrotstotle, comes with a basic repartee vocabulary which seeks to fake actual idle conversation, and it also comes with math skills up to and including algebra, as well as some general encyclopedic facts. Answerpad/Parrotstotle is a true attempt at an artificial intelligence program in that it tries to create new sentences. Most AI programs, and that includes all mainstream AIs, seek only to fake an intelligent response -- every word is a canned reply, scripted and unchangeable. There is absolutely no intelligence on that path, and never will be. Answerpad/Parrotstotle learns and tries to increase its knowledge on its own by creating new sentences out of words & phrases within its knowledge-base. That path might lead to intelligence, after all . . . that's how we do it.

The decisions of a practically wise person can be justified by a chain of reasoning

Neither good theoretical reasoning nor good practical reasoning moves in a circle

True thinking always presupposes and progresses in linear fashion from proper starting points

Practical reasoning always presupposes that one has some end, some goal one is trying to achieve, and the task of reasoning is determine how that goal is to be accomplished

Virtue makes the goal right, practical wisdom the things leading to it

In every practical discipline, the expert aims at a mark and uses right reason to avoid the twin extremes of excess and deficiency

It is strange if someone thinks that politics or practical wisdom is the most excellent kind of knowledge, unless man is the best thing in the cosmos

Theoretical wisdom produces happiness by being a part of virtue

Practical Wisdom looks to the development of Theoretical Wisdom, and issues commands for its sake

Exercising theoretical wisdom is a more important component of our ultimate goal than practical wisdom

The happiest kind of life is that of a philosopher

The virtue of magnificence is superior to mere liberality, and similarly greatness of soul is a higher excellence than the ordinary virtue that has to do with honor

Someone who is greatly honored by his community and commands large financial resources is in a position to exercise a higher order of ethical virtue than is someone who receives few honors and has little property

The grandest expression of ethical virtue requires great political power, because it is the political leader who is in a position to do the greatest amount of good for the community

No set of rules or laws, no matter how long and detailed, obviates the need for deliberative and ethical virtue

Good things are commonly divided into three classes, external or worldly Goods, Goods of the body, and Goods of the soul

Goods of the Soul are Goods in the highest and fullest sense

While goods of the body and external goods are needed for complete happiness, they are not capable of giving happiness alone

Living well consists in those lifelong activities that actualize the virtues of the rational part of the soul

It is clear that in order to be happy one must also possess such goods as friends, wealth, and power

Man's happiness is endangered if one is severely lacking in certain advantages

Man's virtuous activity will be to some extent diminished or defective, if one lacks an adequate supply of other goods

Someone who is friendless, childless, powerless, weak, and ugly will not be able to find many opportunities for virtuous activity over a long period of time

Someone who is friendless, childless, powerless, weak, and ugly will accomplish little in life, and what he can accomplish will not be of great merit

To some extent living well requires good fortune

Happenstance can rob even the most excellent human beings of happiness

The highest good is virtuous activity

Virtuous activity is not something that comes to us by chance

Although we must be fortunate enough to have parents and fellow citizens who help us become virtuous, we ourselves share much of the responsibility for acquiring and exercising the virtues

In order to profit from study of ethics, one must already have been brought up in good habits

Particular virtues, like courage and justice, are components of happiness

Aristotle rejects the existence of Plato's forms in general and the form of the Good in particular

Aristotle rejects Plato's idea that in order to become fully virtuous one must see all branches of knowledge as a unified whole

Students of ethics do not need to engage in a specialized study of the natural world, or mathematics, or eternal and changing objects

Ethics an autonomous field of study

There are two kinds of virtue: those that pertain to the part of the soul that engages in reasoning, meaning virtues of mind, and those that pertain to the part of the soul that cannot itself reason but is nonetheless capable of following reason, meaning virtues of character

Intellectual virtues are divided into two sorts: those that pertain to theoretical reasoning, and those that pertain to practical thinking

All free males are born with the potential to become ethically virtuous and practically wise

To become ethically virtuous and practically wise you must go through two stages: during your childhood, you must develop the proper habits, and then, when your reason is fully developed, you must acquire practical wisdom

Ethical virtue is fully developed only when it is combined with practical wisdom

A form of ethical virtue emerges in us during childhood

When we are repeatedly placed in situations that call for appropriate actions and emotions we learn ethical virtue

The virtuous person takes pleasure in exercising his intellectual skills

The virtuous person does not long to do something that he regards as shameful

The virtuous person is not greatly distressed at having to give up a pleasure that he realizes he should forego

When the virtuous person has decided what to do, he does not have to contend with internal pressures to act otherwise

Evil people are driven by desires for domination and luxury

Evil people always desire more than they have, which leaves them dissatisfied and full of self-hatred

Aristotle places those who suffer from internal disorders into one of three categories: continence, incontinence, vicious

Ethical virtue is a disposition induced by our habits to have appropriate feelings

Defective states of character dispose us to have tendencies toward inappropriate feelings

Aristotle rejects Plato's assertion that virtue is nothing but a kind of knowledge

Aristotle rejects Plato's assertion that vice is nothing but a lack of knowledge

Every ethical virtue is a condition intermediate between two other states, one involving excess, and the other deficiency

In respect to the states of deficiency and excess the virtues are no different from technical skills as every skilled worker knows how to avoid excess and deficiency

The Mean is to be determined in a way that takes into account the particular circumstances of the individual

There is no universal rule on where to locate the Mean for any specific person

Finding the mean in any given situation is not a mechanical or thoughtless procedure, but requires a full and detailed acquaintance with the circumstances

The virtuous man should sometimes have strong feelings, but only when such feelings are called for by our situation

Anger should never reach the point at which it undermines Reason

Our passions should always fall short of the extreme point at which we would lose control

Every virtue is a state that lies between two vices, one of excess and the other of deficiency

Whenever a virtuous person chooses to perform a virtuous act, he can be described as aiming at an act that is in some way or other intermediate between alternatives that he rejects

The common passions are sometimes appropriate

It is essential that every human being learn how to master the common passions

It is essential that every human being experience the common passions in the right way at the right times

Emotions are valuable components of any well-lived human life when they are experienced properly

When the good person chooses to act virtuously, he does so for the sake of the beautiful, the noble, or the fine

Ethical activity has an attraction that is comparable to the beauty of well-crafted artifacts

Ethical activity has an attraction that is comparable to poetry, music, and drama

Every craft tries to produce a work from which nothing should be taken away and to which nothing further should be added

A craft product is not merely useful when well designed and produced by a good craftsman, but also has such elements as balance, proportion and harmony

Balance, proportion and harmony are the properties that help make a craft product useful

A well-executed project that expresses the ethical virtues will not merely be advantageous but noble and beautiful as well

The balance a well-executed project has is part of what makes it advantageous

The person learning to acquire the virtues must develop a love of doing what is beautiful and noble

The person learning to acquire the virtues must develop a strong aversion to things not beautiful and not noble

The decisions of a practically wise person are not mere intuitions

Aristotle was born in 384 BCE at Stagirus

Stagirus is a Greek colony and seaport on the coast of Thrace

Aristotle's father is Nichomachus

Nichomachus was court physician to King Amyntas of Macedonia

Aristotle had a long association with the Macedonian Court

Proxenus sent the 17-year old Aristotle to Athens

Proxenus was Aristotle's Guardian when Aristotle was young

Athens is the intellectual center of the world

Aristotle joined the Academy and studied under Plato for twenty years

Aristotle left Athens for the court of his friend Hermeas, ruler of Atarneus and Assos in Mysia

Aristole married Pythias, the niece of the King Hermeas

In later life Aristotle was married a second time to a woman named Herpyllis, who bore him a son, Nichomachus

Hermeas was overtaken by the Persians three years after Aristotle went to live there, and Aristotle then went to Mytilene

At the invitation of Philip of Macedonia Aristotle became the tutor of 13 year old Alexander

Aristotle set up his own school at a place called the Lyceum

When teaching at the Lyceum, Aristotle had a habit of walking about as he discoursed

Aristotle's followers became known in later years as the peripatetics, meaning, to walk about

Aristotle devoted thirteen years in Lyceum to his teaching and composing his philosophical treatises

Sappho is a poet

Aristotle is a teacher

Socrates is a teacher

Plato is a teacher

Socrates taught Plato

Plato taught Aristotle

Ed is a student

Alexander the Great is from Macedonia in ancient Greece

Alexander the Great has a horse named Bucephalus

Alexander the Great was taught by Aristotle

Alexander the Great like eating food from Thessaloniki

The Good is that at which all things aim

We do what we do for a reason

Action equals Choice

Every Action is said to have an aim

Every Action is said to have a goal

Every Action is said to have a completion

Every Choice is said to have an aim

Every Choice is said to have a goal

Every Choice is said to have a completion

All thinking is either theoretical or practical

If we did not think that doing something would bring us some good we would not do the thing

If we did not think that doing something would get us into a better position we would not do the thing

If we did not think that doing something would prevent pain we would not do the thing

If we did not think that doing something would prevent sadness we would not do the thing

If we did not think that doing something would prevent death we would not do the thing

We do things for fun

We do things for survival

We do things to make others feel good, or not

We do things to help others, or not

We do things to get money

We do things to get power

We do things to get fame

We do things to get learning

We do some things for the sake of other things

We seek money in order to buy things we need or like

We like the things we buy either in themselves or for another reason

We seek status in the eyes of others

Eudaimonia is the highest good

Eudaimonia is happiness in living well and doing well

Eudaimonia is human happiness

Eudaimonia is that for the sake of which all other things are done

Eudaimonia is final and self-sufficient

Eudaimonia is pursued for its own sake

Eudaimonia by itself makes life desirable

Eudaimonia by itself makes life not deficient in anything

Eudaimonia is an activity of soul in accordance with virtue or excellence

We share certain functions with all life forms

Nutrition is a function of all life forms

Respiration is a function of all life forms

Growth is a function of all life forms

We share some functions with some life forms

We share the function of movement with some life forms

We share the function of appetites with some life forms

We share the function of sensation with some life forms

Certain functions are unique to humans

Certain functions eiher make humans human, or reflect what makes humans human

Uniquely human functions are those of the rational element

Uniquely human functions are those related to reasoning and choice

The proper function of a human consists in an activity of the Soul in conformity with a Rational Principle

A Rational Principle is a Source of Reasoning

When we speak of the function of something, we mean the way it works when it functions correctly

When we speak of the function of something, we mean the way it works when it functions best

When we speak of the function of something, we mean the way it works when it functions excellently

The function of a human is not merely using reasoning any way we feel like at the moment

The function of a human is using and acting on reasoning well

Goodness of intellect has two supreme forms: Theoretical and Practical Wisdom

Theoretical Wisdom apprehends the eternal laws of the universe, has no direct relation to human conduct

Modern science questions the boundlessness of the universe

Science is the union of Knowledge and Intuition

Knowledge is a conception concerning universals and Necessary matter

There are two parts of the Soul which have Reason

Art admits of degrees of excellence, but Practical Wisdom does not

In Art he who goes wrong purposely is preferable to him who does so unwittingly

Pericles is a Practically Wise man

Those who are skilled in domestic management or civil government are deemed to have Practical Wisdom

The three angles of every rectilineal triangle are equal to two right angles

Practical Wisdom must be a state conjoined with reason having human good for its object

There are, of course, certain First Principles in all trains of demonstrative reasoning

The faculties whereby we always attain truth are Knowledge, Practical Wisdom, Science, and Intuition

The faculties whereby we are never deceived are Knowledge, Practical Wisdom, Science, and Intuition

Science must mean the most accurate of all Knowledge

Science must be equivalent to Intuition and Knowledge

Science is Knowledge of the most precious objects

Men must allow that the Scientific is the same always, but the Practically Wise varies

Practical Wisdom is a faculty of forethought respecting one's own subsistence

Anexagoras and Thales are called Scientific, but not Practically Wise

Anexagoras and Thales are not Practically Wise

Anexagoras and Thales are Scientific

Anexagoras and Thales are ignorant of what concerns themselves

Anexagoras and Thales know things quite out of the ordinary

Anexagoras and Thales know things that are wonderful

Anexagoras and Thales know things that are very fine

Anexagoras and Thales know many useless things because they do not seek after what is good for them as men

Practical Wisdom is employed upon human matters

Practical Wisdom in action are objects of deliberation

Deliberating well is most peculiarly the work of the man who possesses Practical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom does not consist only in a knowledge of general principles

To exercise Practical Wisdom a knowledge of general principles is necessary that one should know the particular details of the situation

Action is concerned with details

Practical Wisdom in the most proper sense has for its object the interest of the Individual

The man who knows and busies himself about his own concerns merely is the man of Practical Wisdom

Men who extend their solicitude to society at large are considered meddlesome

The generality of mankind seek their own good and hold that this is their proper business

The notion has arisen that men that look toward their own self-interest are the Practically-Wise

It is possible that the good of the Individual cannot be secured independently of connection with a family or a community

The way a man should manage his own affairs is sometimes not quite plain

It is not thought that a young man can come to be possessed of Practical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom has for its object particular facts, which come to be known from experience

Young men usually do not have much experience

Young men usually do not have much Practical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom accumulates over time

Practical Wisdom is not Knowledge

Practical Wisdom and Intuition are opposed

Practical Wisdom is concerned with the ultimate particular fact

The ultimate particular fact cannot be realised by Knowledge

The ultimate particular fact can be realised by Sense

No rectilineal figure can be contained by less than three lines

A triangle is the ultimate geometric figure

Intuition consists of those principles which cannot be proved by reasoning

Intuition is Sense

Practical Wisdom is concerned with the ultimate particular fact which cannot be realised by Knowledge but by Sense

The acts of inquiring and deliberating are different

Deliberating is a kind of inquiring

Good Counsel is not Knowledge

Good Counsel is a kind of deliberation

The man who is deliberating is inquiring and calculating

Good Counsel is not Happy Conjecture

Good Counsel is not Opinion of any kind

It is a common saying that one should execute speedily what has been resolved upon in deliberation, but deliberate slowly

Happy Conjecture is independent of reasoning, and a rapid operation

Quick perception of causes is not Good Counsel

Quick perception of causes is a species of Happy Conjecture

He who deliberates ill goes wrong

He who deliberates well does so rightly

It is clear that Good Counsel is rightness of some kind

Good Counsel is not Knowledge or Opinion

Knowledge cannot be called right because it cannot be wrong

Rightness of Opinion is Truth

Good Counsel is not independent of Reason

Opinion is not a process of inquiry but is already a definite assertion

Whosoever deliberates, whether well or ill, is engaged in inquiry and calculation

Good Counsel is a Rightness of deliberation

Rightness is an equivocal term

It is possible to deliberate rightly in one sense, but attain a great evil

What we consider a virtuous Rightness we plainly do not mean Rightness of any kind whatever

To have deliberated well is thought to be good

Good Counsel is Rightness of deliberation of such a nature as is apt to attain good

You may get success by false reasoning, and hit upon the right effect though not through right means

When you get what you ought but not through proper means it is done by Bad Counsel

One man may hit on a thing after long deliberation, another quickly

Good Counsel must have its Rightness be with reference to what is expedient and must have a proper end in view

Good Counsel must pursue Rightness in a right manner and in a right time

One may deliberate well either generally or towards some particular End

Good counsel in the general is that which goes right towards that which is the End, in a general way of consideration

Good counsel in the particular is that which goes right towards some particular End

Deliberating well is a quality of men possessed of Practical Wisdom

Good Counsel must be Rightness in respect of what conduces to a given End, of which Practical Wisdom is the true conception

Judiciousness is neither entirely identical with Knowledge or Opinion, nor is it any one specific science

The object of medical science is things wholesome

The object of geometry is magnitude

The objects of geometry do not come into being by chance

Geometry has things of which a man might doubt and deliberate

The objects of Judiciousness do not always exist

The objects of Judiciousness are not always immutable

The objects of Judiciousness do not come into being by pure chance

The objects of Judiciousness and Practical Wisdom are the same but different

Practical Wisdom is different from geometry because it has the capacity for commanding and taking the initiative

Practical Wisdom has as its End what one should do or not do

Judiciousness is apt to decide upon suggestions

Judiciousness is neither having Practical Wisdom, nor attaining it

Judiciousness consists in employing the Opinionative faculty in judging concerning those things which come within the province of Practical Wisdom

Judiciousness is judging well

Judiciousness and Learning are synonymous

The equitable man has a tendency to make allowances

Making allowances in certain cases is equitable

All matters of Moral Action belong to the class of particulars, otherwise called Extremes

Judiciousness is concerned with matters of Moral Actions

Judiciousness is concerned with Extremes

Intuition takes in the Extremes at both ends

The first and last terms must be taken in not by Reasoning but by Intuition

Intuition is of two kinds, first and last

That which belongs to strict demonstrative reasonings takes in the immutable and Necessary first terms

That which is employed in practical matters takes in the Extreme, the Contingent, and the minor Premiss

The minor Premisses are the source of the Final Cause

Universals are made up out of Particulars

Sense is Practical Intuition

No man is thought to be Scientific by nature

Intuition is thought to be simply a gift of nature

Judiciousness is thought to be simply a gift of nature

Intuition is both the Beginning and End

Intuition is both the Beginning and End, because the proofs are based upon the one kind of Extremes and concern the other

The old and the Practically Wise see aright, having gained their power of moral vision from experience

One should pay attention to the undemonstrable dicta and opinions of the skilful

The nature and objects of Practical Wisdom and Science belong each to a different part of the Soul

Science concerns itself with none of the causes of human happiness

Science has nothing to do with producing anything

Practical Wisdom is concerned with with producing things

Practical Wisdom is concerned with the causes of human happiness

Moral Virtues are Habits

Practical Wisdom has in its province those things which are just and honourable, and good for man

We are not more apt to be healthy merely from knowing the art of medicine

We are not more apt to be in good condition merely from knowing the art of training

Knowing what is Good does not by itself make a Practically Wise man

Becoming Good is what makes a Practically Wise man

The Wisdom of a Good will be no use to those that are good

The Wisdom of a Good will be no use to those that are not good

Though we wish to be healthy we do not set about learning the art of healing

Whatever produces results rules in each matter

Whatever produces results takes directs the action in each matter

Healthiness makes health

Science makes Happiness

Man's work as Man is accomplished by virtue of Practical Wisdom and Moral Virtue

Moral Virtue gives the right aim and direction

Practical Wisdom is the right means to attainment

The nutritive principle of the Soul has no Excellence because nothing is in its power to do or leave undone

Men may do things in themselves just and yet not be just men

When men do what the laws require of them not, but for the sake of the things themselves, they are not acting justly

Men can do what they ought and all that the good man should do, yet still live unjustly

It seems that to be a good man one must do each act in a particular frame of mind

It seems that to be a good man one must do each act from Moral Choice

It seems that to be a good man one must do each act for the sake of the things themselves

It is Virtue which makes the Moral Choice right

There is a certain faculty commonly named Cleverness

Cleverness is of such a nature as to be able to do and attain whatever conduces to any given purpose

If the purpose of Cleverness be a good one the faculty is praiseworthy

If the purpose of Cleverness be a bad one the faculty implies the willingness to do anything

The Practically Wise are Clever in a good sense

Those who can and will do anything are Clever in a bad sense

Practical Wisdom is not identical with Cleverness

Practical Wisdom is the Eye of the Soul

Practical Wisdom does not attain its proper state without goodness

Vice distorts Moral Vision

Vice causes men to be deceived in respect of practical principles

A man cannot be Practically Wise without being Good

Virtue may be divided into Natural Virtue and Matured Virtue

Natural Virtue and Matured Virtue bear to each other a relation similar to that which Practical Wisdom bears to Cleverness

Natural Virtue and Matured Virtue bear to each other a relation not of identity but resemblance

Men hold that each of the Moral Dispositions attach to us all somehow by Nature

We have natural dispositions towards Justice immediately from our birth

We have natural dispositions towards Self-Mastery immediately from our birth

We have natural dispositions towards Courage immediately from our birth

We seek Goodness in its highest sense as something distinct from Jusatice, Self-Mastery and Courage

We seek Goodness in its highest sense as something distinct from Jusatice

We seek Goodness in its highest sense as something distinct from Self-Mastery

We seek Goodness in its highest sense as something distinct from Courage

Justice is plainly hurtful unless combined with an intellectual element

Self-Mastery is plainly hurtful unless combined with an intellectual element

Courage is plainly hurtful unless combined with an intellectual element

A strong body destitute of sight must, if set in motion, fall violently because it has no sight

The Natural State of Virtue will be Virtue in the highest sense when it is combined with the intellectual element

The Natural State of Virtue not combined with the intellectual element is like a strong body without sight

The Natural State of Virtue not combined with the intellectual element can be hurtful

The Natural State of Virtue not combined with the intellectual element can be Vice

The Natural State of Virtue not combined with the intellectual element is not the Mean

Matured Virtue cannot be formed without Practical Wisdom

Some say that all the Virtues are merely intellectual Practical Wisdom

Socrates was partly right in his inquiry into the Virtues, and partly wrong

Socrates was wrong in that he thought all the Virtues were merely intellectual Practical Wisdom

Socrates was right in saying the Virtues were not independent of Practical Wisdom

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Ethics, as viewed by Aristotle, is an attempt to find out our chief end or highest good.

Ethics is an attempt to find out our chief end or highest good.

The human soul has an irrational element which is shared with the animals.

The most primitive irrational element is the vegetative faculty which is responsible for nutrition and growth.

Most moral virtues, and not just courage, are to be understood as falling at the mean between two accompanying vices.

Most Moral Virtues are to be understood as falling at the Mean between two accompanying vices.

The prominent virtue is high-mindedness.

Justice is used both in a general and in a special sense.

Distributive justice hands out honors and rewards according to the merits of the recipients.

The idea of morality is given by the faculty of moral insight.

Moral weakness of the will results in someone does what is wrong.

Pleasure is not to be identified with Good.

We wouldn't do things for fun if we did not think that fun was in some way a good thing

We wouldn't do things for survival if we did not think that survival was in some way a good thing

When we talk about human happiness perhaps we need to look at the function of a human

When we talk about human happiness perhaps we need to look at the specific activities and capacities that make humans human

The functions of a human Aristotle has in mind are the things we use to get what we want and need, and the activities we do in order to live as humans

It is precisely through our specifically human functioning that choice is possible as we know it

The question of happiness can only arise through the function of uniquely human attributes

The proper function of a human to live a certain kind of life, and this kind of life is an activity of soul and consists in actions performed in conjunction with the Rational Element

A function is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the excellence appropriate to it

The good of a human is an activity of soul in conformity with excellence or virtue

It is through reasoning, conscious choice, understanding and evaluating the consequences of our actions, and learning how to put our choices into action effectively that we will be able to do as much as we can to achieve our goals

Happiness is an activity of soul in accordance with virtue or excellence

If our reasoning is poorly developed or poorly used, we won't be able to deduce how to achieve the results we desire

If our reasoning is poorly developed or poorly used, we may make disastrous choices that were avoidable

If our reasoning is poorly developed or poorly used, things will almost never turn out as we think they will

People distinguish 2 kinds of virtue or excellence: intellectual virtues and moral or ethical virtues

Intellectual virtues are those such as Theoretical Wisdom, Understanding, and Practical Wisdom

Moral or ethical virtues are those such as Courage, Generosity, Self-Control, Moderation, and Justice

Virtue is excellence

Virtues seem to be developed by means of habit

Virtues are not inborn

The capacity to develop virtues is inborn in all of us

All habits do not impart virtue

There are habits that work against virtue

If we develop the habit of never trying anything new or unknown, we will not learn certain kinds of courage

If we develop the habit of paying no attention to money or to other people's needs, we are unlikely to become generous

Theoretical wisdom is wisdom involving knowledge of theories, among other things, as described in the Metaphysics

Aristotle suggests that we become virtuous by performing virtuous acts, or by acting virtuous

Aristotle does not mean that merely happening to perform any virtuous action makes you virtuous

Some awareness and skill are involved in habituating virtue

A man is not literate if he can copy letters that someone else wrote, while not knowing how to read the letters into words and sentences

A man is not virtuous if he did something virtuous without knowing that it was virtuous

A man is not virtuous if he did something virtuous because he was told to do it

A man is not virtuous if he did something virtuous because he was forced to do it

Being morally virtuous or excellent requires more than simply doing the right thing

Doing the right thing in a certain way, for certain reasons, is necesary in order to have true excellence or virtue

You must know what you are doing in order to perform an act of virtue

You must choose to act the way you do in order to perform an act of virtue

You must choose to act this way or to do this thing for its own sake in order to perform an act of virtue

An act of virtue must spring from a firm and unchangeable character or habit

You are not being courageous if you are acting only to impress people

You are not being courageous if you would not do the same thing if no one was watching

You have not acted with moral excellence if you acted on a whim

You have not acted with moral excellence if you simply did what your friends were doing without considering whether this was an appropriate thing to do, and why

You must try to be consistent in order to be virtuous, and if that turns out badly, you must try to understand why

Virtue develops as a result of three factors: nature, habit and reason

Virtue of character is not just knowledge, but involves choice of what is noble

Virtue involves both the rational and irrational parts of the soul

A human first of all strives to exist

Humans are pleased by things that accord with their nature

Humans shun those things that are contrary to their nature

Humans strive for health, pleasure and other natural advantages

The beginnings of Right Action come from concern to obtain the things that are pleasing to human nature, and hence so do the beginnings of virtue

Virtue is correct and systematic understanding resulting in correct choice of natural advantages

We find the Goods of the body choiceworthy for their own sake

Goods of the body are those such as health, strength and beauty

We find the Goods of the Soul choiceworthy for their own sake, without an eye to advantage

Virtue turns towards itself and contemplates that it itself is much more something according with Nature than the bodily virtues

Virtue turns towards itself in the sense that it involves not just consistently Right Action but also an understanding of the proper value of virtue

The virtuous person must value his own virtuous state more than the results it produces

Appreciating the value of virtue is the culminating point of rational development

Virtue, which is a Good of the Soul, is more valuable than bodily goods

Virtue and the exercise of rationality are not the only aims of a virtuous persons

The virtuous person will regard both bodily virtues and external Goods as choiceworthy for their own sake

Virtue is greatly superior to bodily Goods and external Goods

Eudaimonia is not a combination of bodily and external Goods, but rather an active life of virtue which in some way uses or acts on these goods

Eudaimonia is not just Good things, but a life of actions

Bodily and external Goods do not make for happiness on their own, but only as put to service by virtue

Despite the superiority of virtue the bodily and external Goods are genuine Goods, choiceworthy for their own sake and required for happiness

Development of concern for oneself results in concern for oneself as a rational being

Concern for oneself as a rational being includes and transforms, rather than replaces, concern for one's friends and other external Goods

The virtuous person is motivated to sacrifice his money, honors, or even chances of virtuous action, to others

The virtuous person is motivated only to act virtuously, and this is just because he is someone who identifies himself with his practical reasoning and its virtuous conclusions

Virtuous and altruistic actions are expressions of virtuous self-love

The greedy, competitive person shows that he conceives of himself as ambitious and ruthless

The just person shows that his conception of himself is as a rational and virtuous person

All action is formally a case of self-love or self-seeking

The crucial difference between selfish and virtuous action lies in the conception of the self that a person has

Being a citizen is essential to the ethical life

The seeker of virtue must choose the intermediate condition, not the excess or deficiency

Correct Reason will determine the intermediate condition

In all states of character there is a target the reasonable person focuses on to define the Mean

Though it is true that to attain virtue we must hold fast to the Mean, it is equally true that we must labor or be idle in the endeavour neither too much nor too little

The person desiring virtue must determine the definition of Correct Reason

There are two parts to the Soul: the Rational and the Nonrational

There are two virtues of the Soul: that of Character and of Thought

The reasonable part of the Soul is further divided into two parts: the Scientific and the Rationally Calculating parts

As Assertion and Denial are to Thought, so are Pursuit and Avoidance to Desire

Deliberation is the same as Rationally Calculating

Nobody deliberates about what cannot be otherwise

The Rationally Calculating part of the Soul is the one with Reason

The Scientific part of the Soul is used to study beings whose principles admit themselves as they are

The Rationally Calculating part of the Soul is used to study beings whose principles do not always admit themselves as they are

The seeker of virtue should find the best state of the Scientific and Rationally Calculating parts to find the virtue in the Rational part of the Soul

There are three capacities in the Soul: Sense Perception, Understanding and Desire

Sense Perception is clearly not the principle of any Action

Beasts have Sense Perception but no share in Action

The principle of an Action is Desire

The principle of an Action is the Source of Motion

The principle of Decision is Desire and Goal-Oriented Reason

Decision requires Understanding, Thought and a state of Character

Acting Well requires both Thought and Character

Acting Badly requires both Thought and Character

Thought by itself moves nothing

Goal-Directed Thought concerned with Action moves us

The principle of Productive Thought is Goal-Directed Thought concerned with Action

Every Producer in his Production aims at some further Goal

The Unqualified Goal is not the Product

The Qualified Goal of a Production that aims at a further Goal is the Product

An Unqualified Goal is what we achieve in Action

Acting Well is the Goal

Desire is for the Goal

Decision is either Understanding combined with Desire, or Desire combined with Thought

The principle of a Human Being is of the same sort as Decision

We do not Deliberate about what is past

We Deliberate about what will Be

Agathon said, Of this alone even a god is deprived: to make what is all done to have never happened

The five states in which the Soul grasps at the Truth are Craft, Scientific Knowledge, Prudence, Wisdom and Understanding

Euripides said, To mortals, what a dreadful scourge is love!

Euripides said, We women are the most unhappy race.

Euripides said, I know, indeed, the evil of that I purpose, but my inclination gets the better of my judgment.

Euripides said, Misery is changing sides.

Alcestis said, Many are the shapes that fortune takes, and oft the gods bring things beyond our expectation. That which we deemed so sure is not fulfilled, while for that we never thought would be, the gods find out a way.

Homer said, Man proposes, Zeus disposes.

Homer said, But bygones must be bygones!

Homer said, Whenever Heaven pleases! Death shall lay me low, too. Yet before he strikes, I am resolved upon great deeds.

Homer said, Mock not at death

Homer said, Better to be the hireling of a stranger, and serve a man of mean estate whose living is but small, than be the ruler of all these dead and gone.

Homer said, Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods.

Homer said, Even a fool learns wisdom after the event.

Homer said, Better to mourn six men than lose them all, and the ship, too.

Homer said, In every venture, the bold man comes off best.

Ovid said, The glory of having fought the good fight is greater than the disgrace of having been beaten.

Pindar said, Performance proves the man.

Pindar said, The light of glorious deeds shines, imperishable forever.

Pindar said, Action is the way of strength, stratagem the way of council.

Pindar said, A deed done without danger lacks glory . . . but men remember if someone dares and wins.

Pindar said, Always, in the contest for excellence, expense and labor struggle to achieve an exploit whose end lies veiled in danger.

Pindar said, Few have won joy without effort.

Pindar said, Too sharp is the madness of unattainable desires.

Pindar said, Creatures of a day! What is someone? What is no one? Man: a shadow’s dream.

Sophocles said, If my present deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge arraigns my folly.

Sophocles said, Wisdom is the supreme part of happiness.

Sophocles said, The world is built out of our beliefs, and when we lose those beliefs out of doubt, our world is destroyed, and the present and the past vanish into night.

Aeschylus said, For seeing they saw not, and hearing they understood not, but like shapes in a dream they wrought all the days of their lives in confusion.

Aeschylus said, Of all vile things in the world the worst is a traitor.

Epicurus said, Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.

Epicurus said, You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.

Antisthenes said, There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.

Pericles said, What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.

Alexander the Great said, How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.

Alexander the Great said, I would rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent than in the extent of my powers and dominion.

Alexander the Great said, Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.

Alexander the Great said, There is nothing impossible to him who will try.

Alexander the Great said, Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.

Diogenes said, Blushing is the color of virtue

Diogenes said, Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you've got an audience.

Diogenes said, Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards

Diogenes said, I do not know whether there are gods, but there ought to be

Diogenes said, The sun, too, shines into cesspools and is not polluted

Plato said, Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

We make war that we might live in peace

The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law

Socrates said, I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance

Socrates said, Bad men live that they can eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live

Plato said, Ignorance is the root and the stem of every evil

Plato said, You can easily forgive a child that is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light

Xenophanes said, Men make gods in their own image, those of the Ethiopians are black and snub-nosed, those of the Thracians have blue eyes and red hair

A friend to all is a friend to none

A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one

Bring your desires down to your present means.

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion and desire

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others

Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them

The best choice for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve

Friendship is essentially a partnership

He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god

Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully

Hope is the dream of a waking man

Aristotle counts him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self

If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is Nature's way

It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way

Men create gods after their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life

Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit

We become just by doing just acts

We become temperate by doing temperate acts

We become brave by doing brave acts

Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth

A likely impossibility is always preferable to an unconvincing possibility

Quality is not an act, it is a habit

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain

The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake

The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead

The end of labor is to gain leisure

The energy of the mind is the essence of life

The gods too are fond of a joke

The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime

The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold

The moral virtues are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature

The more one dares, the more he shall obtain

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival

The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom

The whole is more than the sum of its parts

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently, but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life - knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live

Those who excel in virtue have the best right of all to rebel, but then they are of all men the least inclined to do so

To run away from trouble is a form of cowardice

There is no great genius without a mixture of madness

What is known scientifically is by necessity

Everlasting things are ingenerable and indestructable

Every science seems to be teachable

What is scientifically knowable is learnable

All teaching is from what is already known

Some teaching is by induction, some by deduction

Induction leads to the principle, the universal

Deduction proceeds from the principle, the universal

Scientific knowledge is a demonstrable state

One has scientific knowledge whenever one has the appropriate sort of confidence

What admits of being otherwise includes what is produced and what is achieved in action

Production and Action are different

The state involving reason and concerned with action is different from the state involving reason and concerned with production

Action is not Production, and Production is not Action

Craft is a certain state involving Reason concerned with Production

Craft is the same as a state involving True Reason concerned with Production

Every Craft is concerned with coming to Be

Exercise of Craft is the study of how something that admits of Being and Not Being comes to Be

The principle of Craft is in the Producer not in the Product

Craft is not concerned with things that Are or come to Be by necessity

Craft is not concerned with things that Are by nature

Craft is concerned with Production, not with Action

In a way, Craft and Fortune are concerned with the same things

Agathon said, Craft was fond of Fortune, and Fortune of Craft

Lack of Craft is a state involving False Reason and concerned with Production

Craft and Lack of Craft both are concerned with what admits of being otherwise

To grasp what Prudence is, we should first study the sort of people we call prudent

We are what we repeatedly do

We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one

We praise a man who feels angry on the right grounds and against the right persons and also in the right manner at the right moment and for the right length of time

What the statesman is most anxious to produce is a certain moral character in his fellow citizens, namely a disposition to virtue and the performance of virtuous actions

Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit

A flatterer is a friend who is your inferior, or pretends to be so

A friend is a second self

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind

All virtue is summed up in dealing justly

It is in justice that the ordering of society is centered

Zeno thought people should try to reach inner peacefulness

Stoicism was founded by a man named Zeno, who lived from 335-263 BCE

Zeno was friendly with the successors of Alexander who ruled Greece

Zeno said, The best way to be peaceful was to be moderate in everything

Zeno used to lecture not in a classroom but outside, on the porch of a public building. The word for porch in Greek is STOA, and so people called his students Stoics, people who hang out on the porch.

Gaea is the Earth goddess

Uranus is the sky god and first ruler

Cronus is the ruling Titan who came to power by castrating his Father Uranus

Rhea is the wife of Cronus

Oceanus is the unending stream of water encircling the world

Tethys is the wife of Oceanus

Hyperion is the Titan of Light

Mnemosyne is the Titan of Memory and the mother of Muses

Themis is the Titan of Justice and Order

Iapetus is the father of Prometheus, Epimetheus, Menoetius, and Atlas by Clymene

Coeus is the Titan of Intelligence

Phoebe is the Titan of the Moon

Prometheus is the wisest Titan

Epimetheus is a stupid Titan

Atlas fought with the other Titans supporting Cronus against Zeus

Metis is the Titaness of the fourth day and the planet Mercury.

Metis presides over all wisdom and knowledge.

Dione is the mother of Aphrodite

Zeus overthrew his Father Cronus.

Zeus drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods.

Zeus is lord of the sky, the rain god.

Poseidon is a brother of Zeus.

Poseidon is lord of the sea

Hades is a brother of Zeus.

Hades is lord of the underworld

Hestia is Zeus sister.

Hestia is a virgin goddess

Hera is Zeus wife and sister

Hera was raised by the Titans Ocean and Tethys.

Hera is the protector of marriage and takes special care of married women.

Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Ares was disliked by both parents.

Ares is the god of war

Athena is the daughter of Zeus.

Athena is fierce and brave in battle but only fights to protect the state and home from outside enemies.

Athena is the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture

Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto.

Apollo is the god of music, playing a golden lyre.

Apollo is The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow.

Apollo is the god of healing who taught man medicine.

Apollo is the god of light.

Apollo is the god of truth, who can not speak a lie.

Apollo's twin sister is Artemis

Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire and beauty

Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is Zeus messenger

Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto.

Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo.

Artemis is the lady of the wild things

Hephaestus is a son of Zeus and Hera.

Hephaestus is the god of fire and the forge

Asclepius is a god of healing. His parents were Apollo and Coronis

Demeter is the goddess of corn, grain, and the harvest. She is the daughter of Cronus and Rhea

Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.

After her abduction by Hades, Persephone became his wife and Queen of the underworld.

Dionysus is the god of the vine.

Dionysus invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes.

Dionysus has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and divine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, rage

Eros is the son of Aphrodite.

Eros is the god of erotic, romantic, love

Hebe is a daughter of Zeus and Hera.

Hebe is the goddess of youth and the wife of Heracles

Eris is a daughter of Zeus and Hera.

Eris is the goddess of discord

Thanatos was the personification of death

Pan is the son of Hermes.

Pan is the god of goatherds and shepherds

Nemesis is the god of righteous anger, due enactment, or divine vengeance.

Nemesis helped to avenge those who were wronged

There are three Graces: Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, otherwise known as Splendor, Mirth, and Good Cheer.

The Graces are known for singing and dancing for the gods

There are nine Muses, each with her own specialty: Clio - History, Urania - Astronomy, Melpomene - Tragedy, Thalia - Comedy, Terpsichore - Dance, Calliope - Epic Poetry, Erato - Love Poetry, Polyhymnia - Songs to the Gods, Euterpe - Lyric Poetry

There are three Erinye - Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto.

The Erinyes came from the blood of Uranus when he was castrated.

The Erinyes pursue wrong doers relentlessly, until death, often driving them to suicide.

The Erinye are particularly concerned with matricide.

The Erinyes are also known as the Furies

There are three Fates. Clotho, the spinner, who spins the thread of life. Lachesis, the measurer, who chooses the lot in life one will have and measures off how long it is to be. Atropos, she who can not be turn, who at death with her shears cuts the thread of life.

Argus Panoptes is the all seeing. A man with many eyes

Echidna is a female monster consisting of half nymph, half speckled snake

Parrotstotle was created on a friday in April, 2007.

Parrotstotle was created on friday, the thirteenth day of April, in 2007

Parrotstotle was created on Friday the Thirteenth.

Aristotle said, I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law

Liars when they speak the truth are not believed

What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies

Aristotle counts him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies

All men by nature desire knowledge

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them

It is possible to fail in many ways . . . while to succeed is possible only in one way

One swallow does not make Spring

Piety requires us to honor truth above our friends

To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence

To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character

We must as second best . . . take the least of the evils

With regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it

Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods

In the arena of human life the honours and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous

Time crumbles things, everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time

Political society exists for the sake of noble actions, and not of mere companionship

Again, men in general desire the good, and not merely what their fathers had

Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered

It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it

Law is order, and good law is good order

Man is by nature a political animal

Nature does nothing uselessly

They should rule who are able to rule best

Evil draws men together

No one finds fault with defects which are the result of Nature

A good style must have an air of novelty, at the same time concealing its art

Numbers are intellectual witnesses that belong only to mankind

Wicked men obey from fear, good men, from love

Some men are just as sure of the truth of their opinions as are others of what they know

Philosophy is the science which considers truth

Man is by nature a civic animal

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers

Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities

Custom is second nature

Repentant tears wash out the stain of guilt

Be not arrogant when Fortune smiles, or dejected when she frowns

If you are dreaded by many then beware of many

It often happens, that misery will follow a marriage when the dowry is too large

Let the blacksmith wear the chains he has himself made

No man will revel long in the indulgence of crime

One day unfolds it and one day destroys

Knowledge is power

The mould of a man's fortune is in his own hands

To Thales the primary question was not what do we know, but how do we know it?

Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope

Bad men are full of repentance

Revolutions are not about trifles, but spring from trifles

The ideal man is his own best friend and takes delight in privacy

Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness, and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival

Great men are always of a nature originally melancholy

Aristotle counts him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self

Happiness is the utilization of one's talents along lines of excellence

Wit is educated insolence

Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor, for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit

It was through the feeling of wonder that men now and at first began to philosophize

Most people would rather give than get affection

For what is the best choice, for each individual is the highest it is possible for him to achieve

Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy

The coward calls the brave man rash, the rash man calls him a coward

The wise man does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he cares sufficiently, but he is willing, in great crises, to give even his life -- knowing that under certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well

All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth

Equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons

Excellence then is not an act but a habit

There are some who, because the point is the limit and extreme of the line, the line of the plane, and the plane of the solid, think there must be real things of this sort

Man is a goal seeking animal

Man's life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals

It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom

To live happily is an inward power of the Soul

Of mankind in general, the parts are greater than the whole

If at first the idea is absurd, then there is no hope for it

No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness

Justice is that virtue of the soul which is distributive according to desert

The price of justice is eternal publicity

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing

We give up leisure in order that we may have leisure, just as we go to war in order that we may have peace

There is a cropping-time in the races of men, as in the fruits of the field, and sometimes, if the stock be good, there springs up for a time a succession of splendid men, and then comes a period of barrenness

The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order, symmetry, and limitation, and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful

The greatest thing in style is to have a command of metaphor

And of course, the brain is not responsible for any of the sensations at all. The correct view is that the seat and source of sensation is the region of the heart

It is better to rise from life as from a banquet -- neither thirsty nor drunken

The Moral Virtues, then, are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature

Nature, indeed, prepares in us the ground for the reception of Moral Virtue, but their complete formation is the product of habit

Men regard it as their right to return evil for evil -- and if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty

It makes no difference whether a good man has defrauded a bad man, or a bad man defrauded a good man, or whether a good or bad man has committed adultery: the law can look only to the amount of damage done

The good of man must be the end of the science of politics

Education is the best provision for the journey to old age

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime

To perceive is to suffer

It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen

Poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular

The gods too are fond of a joke

To give a satisfactory decision as to the truth it is necessary to be rather an arbitrator than a party to the dispute

Young people are in a condition like permanent intoxication, because youth is sweet and they are growing

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends

Man perfected by society is the best of all animals, he is the most terrible of all when he lives without law, and without justice

Happiness depends upon ourselves

Law is mind without reason

To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our own existence

A state is not a mere society

As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready made or constructs it for himself, he should first sketch its general outline, and then fill in the episodes and amplify in detail

If you string together a set of speeches expressive of character, and well finished in point and diction and thought, you will not produce the essential tragic effect nearly so well as with a play which, however deficient in these respects, yet has a plot and artistically constructed incidents

Dramatic action, therefore, is not with a view to the representation of character: character comes in as subsidiary to the actions

Where perception is, there also are pain and pleasure, and where these are, there, of necessity, is desire

Neglect of an effective birth control policy is a never-failing source of poverty which, in turn, is the parent of revolution and crime

Generally, about all perception, we can say that a sense is what has the power of receiving into itself the sensible forms of things without the matter, in the way in which a piece of wax takes on the impress of a signet ring without the iron or gold

Beauty is the gift from the gods

Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach

It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences

The least deviation from truth will be multiplied later

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet

No tyrant need to fear till men begin to feel confident in each other

A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance

Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms

The most important things about which all men deliberate and deliberative orators harangue, are five in number, to wit: ways and means, war and peace, the defence of the country, imports and exports, legislation

Aristotle conceives of ethical theory as a field distinct from the theoretical sciences

The methodology of ethical theory must match its subject matter — good action — and must respect the fact that in this field many generalizations hold only for the most part

We study ethics in order to improve our lives

The principal concern of ethics is the nature of human well-being

Aristotle follows Socrates and Plato in taking the virtues to be central to a well-lived life

Like Plato, Aristotle regards the ethical virtues as complex rational, emotional and social skills

Aristotle rejects Plato's idea that a training in the sciences and metaphysics are a necessary prerequisite for a full understanding of our good

What we need, in order to live well, is a proper appreciation of the way in which such goods as friendship, pleasure, virtue, honor and wealth fit together as a whole

In order to apply that general understanding to particular cases, we must acquire, through proper upbringing and habits, the ability to see, on each occasion, which course of action is best supported by reasons

Practical wisdom cannot be acquired solely by learning general rules

We also must also acquire, through practice, those deliberative, emotional, and social skills that enable us to put our general understanding of well-being into practice in ways that are suitable to each occasion

Aristotle wrote two ethical treatises: the Nicomachean Ethics and the Eudemian Ethics

The Nicomachean Ethics gives a series of arguments for the superiority of the philosophical life to the political life

The Nicomachean Ethics examines Solon's dictum that no man should be counted happy until he is dead

The Nicomachean Ethics discusses the close relationship between ethical inquiry and politics

There are differences of opinion about what is best for human beings, and that to profit from ethical inquiry we must resolve this disagreement

We are asking what the good for human beings is not simply because we want to have knowledge, but because we will be better able to achieve our good if we develop a fuller understanding of what it is to flourish

The difficult and controversial question arises when we ask whether some Goods are more desirable than others

Aristotle's search for the good is a search for the highest good

The highest good, whatever it turns out to be, has three characteristics: it is desirable for itself, it is not desirable for the sake of some other good, and all other goods are desirable for its sake

Aristotle thinks everyone will agree that the terms eudaimonia, meaning happiness, and "eu zen", meaning living well, designate the highest good

The Greek term eudaimon is composed of two parts: eu means well, and daimon means divinity or spirit

To be eudaimon is to be living in a way that is well-favored by a god

Aristotle never calls attention to the etymology of eudaimon, and it seems to have little influence on his thinking

Aristotle regards eudaimon as a substitute for eu zen

The terms eudaimon and eu zen play an evaluative role, and are not simply descriptions of someone's state of mind

No one tries to live well for the sake of some further goal

Being eudaimon is the highest end for humans

All goals are subordinate to eudaimon

Health, wealth, and other such resources are sought because they promote well-being, not because they are what well-being consists in

Unless we can determine which good or goods happiness consists in, it is of little use to acknowledge that happiness and living well is the highest end

Aristotle argues that the function, task, and work of a human being consists in activity of the rational part of the soul in accordance with virtue

The Nutritive Soul is responsible for growth and reproduction

The Locomotive Soul is responsible for motion

The Perceptive Soul is responsible for perception

Aristotle argues that human beings are the only species that has the lower capacities of Soul as well as a Rational Soul

The good of a human being must have something to do with being human

The good of a human being must have something to do with what sets humanity off from other species

The good of a human being must have something to do with giving us the potential to live a better life

The good of a human being must have something to do with our capacity to guide ourselves by using reason

Using reason well over the course of a full life is what happiness consists in

Doing anything well requires virtue or excellence

Happiness is not virtue, happiness is virtuous activity

Living well consists in doing something, not just being in a certain state or condition

Aristotle argues that the function, task, and work of a human being consists in activity of the rational part of the soul in accordance with virtue

Hippocrates said, For where there is love of man, there is also love of art

Pindar said, Success for the striver washes away the effort of striving

Sophocles said, If you are out of trouble, watch for danger

Sophocles said, There is no success without hardship

It is commonly said, As long as you have the blessing of your parents it does not matter even if you live in the mountains

It is commonly said, He who is not satisfied with a little is not satisfied with a lot

It is commonly said, A person can be as sweet as honey or as heavy as steel

It is commonly said, If you do not have brains you have legs

It is commonly said, If you do not have brains you follow the same route twice

It is commonly said, If you are truthful you will have as much gold as you want

It is commonly said, The liar and the thief rejoice in their first year only

It is commonly said, Help yourself so the gods can help you

It is commonly said, The rabbits' eye differs from that of the owl

It is commonly said, Passing from mouth to mouth it was learned by a thousand, and by the time it came to be heard by the king he learned of how a cow laid an egg

It is commonly said, The rich man with his riches and the poor man with his children

It is commonly said, Many words are poverty

It is commonly said, Upon touching sand may it turn to gold

Andromeda is the princess of Ethiopia, daughter to Cepheus and Cassiopeia

Echo is a beautiful Nymph who lived in the forest

The first woman to be created in ancient Greek myth is known as Pandora

Pandora is said to have been created by Hephaestus

Pandora's name meant all gifted and is attributed to all the gifts the gods bestowed upon her

The gods gave Pandora many gifts, the gift of music from Apollo, beauty from Aphrodite, and many others

King Midas is a famous king from Phrygia in Asia Minor

Medusa is the youngest and most beautiful of the three daughters of the sea Titans Porcys and Ceto

Medusa is the only mortal of three sisters

Medusa's sisters are Stheno and Euryale

Medusa and her sisters are very wise

Medusa and her sisters serve as priestesses under the goddess of wisdom and war, Athena

Poseidon desired beautiful Medusa, and in a moment of uncontrolled passion he raped Medusa in Athena's own temple

Athena transformed Medusa into a hideous beast, with wings and numerous snakes for hair

The transformed Medusa is so horrid to behold that whosoever looked at her would instantly turn to stone

Oedipus is the son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes

The beautiful Persephone is the daughter of the earth goddess, Demeter

Demeter taught the people how to plant and how to grow food so that they may live

Demeter taught the people about the gathering of their harvests so that they may live

The city of Thebes is plagued by the horrible Sphinx

The Sphinx routinely asks passerbys a riddle, and whoever can not answer is snatched up and eaten by the beast

Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers of all time

Plato considered Aristotle his most talented and intelligent student

Plato bestowed upon Aristotle the title, The Reader

Hippocrates is known today as the Father of Medicine

Hippocrates was born on the island of Kos in 460 B.C.E.

Hippocrates practiced his chosen art of medicine in several cities throughout the ancient Greek world

Hippocrates practiced the art of medicine in Athens during it's Golden Age

Hippocrates was laid to rest in the Greek city of Larissa in Thessaly in 375 B.C.E.

Hippocrates believed that human disease had only natural causes

The medicine which Hippocrates practiced removed the treatment of disease from religion

Hippocrates never formed a connection with the priests or hospitals of Aesclepius, the god of healing

Hippocrates turned medicine into a science as well as an art

Hippocrates applied logic and reason to the treatment of his patients

The theories Hippocrates developed are summed up in The Corpus Hippocratium

The Corpus Hippocratium is the oldest surviving complete medical collection

The Hippocratic oath was developed for those who were to practice medicine based on loyalty, honor and virtue among other noble traits

Phidias lived from 493 to 430 B.C.E.

Phidias is a very famous ancient Greek sculptor who lived during the Golden Age of Athens

Phidias designed and created the Parthenon

Phidias is the creator of the Athena statue that resides in the Parthenon

Phidias created one of the seven wonders of the ancient world in his massive sculpture to Zeus at Olympia

The Golden Age of Greece is the time when Athens along with the other Greek city-states defeated the powerful Persian empire

The Golden Age of Greece is the time when Athens became leader of a powerful alliance of ancient Greek city-states with a common goal of defending their homeland

A great portion of what Greece contributed to western civilization occurred during the Golden Age of Greece

The powerful alliance during the Golden Age that Athens ruled over was known as the Delian League

Plato lived during and after the destructive Peloponnesian War

Plato was born into the aristocracy of the city of Athens

Plato lived from 428 to 347 B.C.E.

After Socrates was executed, Plato went to live for 12 yers in Sicily and Italy, otherwise known as Greater Greece

Plato encountered the Pythagorean sects in Sicily

The Pythagoreans had a profound effect in Plato's life

Plato returned to Athens in 387 B.C., and founded the Academy of Athens

Plato believes that the pursuit of truth can only come through questions, answers, and then with questions once again

Plato believes that the best quality in a statesman was not technical or practical ability but rather knowledge and wisdom

Plato believes that all constitutions and laws were inherently bad in that they did not meet the constantly changing events of modern life

Plato believes that states were not stable in that they relied on laws that could not keep up with the needs of the society

Plato thought what was needed were men with a godlike insight that could lead the state

Plato thought the perfect state would consist of three main parts: the wise leaders, the military, and the rest of society

Plato became so disillusioned with mankind that he decided that mankind could not be governed by reason

Socrates was born in the city of Athens in 470 B.C.E.

Socrates was liked by many Athenians yet he was disliked by most

Socrates spent much of his time in the Agora where he held conversations with the citizens of Athens

Socreates is most remembered for his strong moral beliefs

Socrates believes that people do evil out of ignorance

Socrates believes that people are inherently good

Socrates taught his philosophy by questioning those who listened to him on the streets of Athens

Socrates showed people that the answers they often had for questions were insufficient

Socrates formed a very large following among the disillusioned youth of Athens

The philosophy of Socrates rejected the relativism of the Sophists and the belief that it is impossible to arrive at what is right and wrong

Socrates agreed with the Sophists that distinctions do exist in customs between any two cities

Socrates argued that the animal world cannot be used in comparison to humans

Socrates thought the essential problem with mankind was the ignorance and lack of insight into the nature of good and evil

Hippocrates said, For where there is love of man, there is also love of art

Pindar said, Success for the striver washes away the effort of striving

Socrates said, The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be

Sacred to the goddess Demeter were agricultural products, livestock, poppy, narcissus and grain

The center of worship of Demeter was at Eleusis, near Athens

At Eleusis secret rituals every five years known as the Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries are based on Demeter's search for her Daughter Persephone

The Pythagoreans believed, but failed to prove, that the universe could be understood in terms of whole numbers

Pythagoras is a son of Mnesarchos

Pythagoras was born on the isle of Samos in 580 B.C.E.

Pythagoras left his fatherland to escape the tyranny of Polykrates

For many years Pythagoras made his home in Kroton in southern Italy

Pythagoras and his followers were banished from Kroton by an opposing political party

Pythagoras died at Metapontum in 500 B.C.E.

Pythagoras was a mystic thinker and religious reformer quite as much as a philosopher and politician

Pythagorean philosophy is an important source of inspiration for Plato and Aristotle

The school of Pythagoras was as much a religion as a school of mathematics

Pythagoreans are vegetarians, possibly because they believed in the transmigration of souls

The school of Pythagoras represents the mystic tradition in contrast with the scientific

The Pythagorean school regards men and women equally

Pythagorean men and women enjoy a common way of life

Property is communal in Pythagorean society

Even mathematical discoveries are communal in Pythagorean society

Pythagoras states that the greatest purification of all is disinterested science

Mathematics, so honored by Pythagoras, became the model for other sciences

Pythagoras teaches that Thought is superior to the senses, and intuition is superior to observation

The dictum of the Pythagorean school is, All is Number

Theano, the wife of Pythagoras, gave us the concept of the Golden Section

The Golden Section states: A is to B as B is to C

The Golden Section is also known as the Divine Proportion, the Golden Mean and the Golden Ratio

The Golden Mean is represented by the Greek letter, phi

The common decimal representation of phi is 1.6180339887499

Theoretical Wisdom aims at truth

Theoretical Wisdom is concerned with knowledge of first principles

Theoretical knowledge is of what is necessary and eternal

Theoretical knowledge is concerned with what can not be otherwise

Theoretical knowledge is concerned with things that don't change

Practical Wisdom aims at truth

Practical Wisdom is truth in the service of action

Practical Wisdom is concerned with what can be otherwise, with things that change

Practical Wisdom is concerned with things that change and are related to how humans live their lives among other humans

Only the person who is morally virtuous will be able to be practically wise

Only the morally virtuous person will perceive what really matters in any situation

Only the morally virtuous person will be motivated to carry out appropriate action

Practical Wisdom is in the service of action

Human beings need to be able to deliberate well about what actions are needed to bring about what is rightly desired

The person who is morally virtuous and has practical wisdom will perceive and deliberate well, and hence, choose well

Practical Wisdom is a necessary condition for Understanding

Theoretical Wisdom is not a necessary condition for Practical Wisdom

Moral Virtue is not a necessary condition of Theoretical Wisdom

Theoretical Wisdom is not a necessary condition of Moral Virtue

Moral Virtue is a necessary condition of Practical Wisdom

The person who can reason well to get an end that is not rightly desired is clever but not wise

A person can be good at means & end reasoning without Moral Virtue, but will neither perceive the situation correctly nor desire the right end

Practical Wisdom is a necessary condition of Moral Virtue

Part of being morally virtuous is listening to what practical reason tells you about what a particular situation is like so that you can know what it is appropriate to feel

Part of being morally virtuous is being able to carry out good intentions through effective means & end reasoning

The practically wise and morally virtuous person does not need theoretical wisdom

Both practical wisdom and moral virtue are acquired over a long period of training and instruction in a moral community

We acquire practical wisdom and moral virtue by being shown what things matter in a situation, how to feel about these things, and how to act appropriately

The purpose of moral education is not to find out what is good but to act well

The word philosophy means love of wisdom

A man with theoretical wisdom has exact knowledge of all disciplines, such as physical sciences, metaphysics, mathematics, and philosophy

A man with theoretical wisdom has an intellect that grasps the truth of fundamental principles

Theoretical Wisdom comprises complete scientific knowledge in combination with an understanding of the true meaning of what intuition deduces from first principles

Theoretical Wisdom is the highest and most noble kind of wisdom

Theoretical Wisdom is a union of intuition and science

Political Wisdom is an aspect of Practical Wisdom

Practical wisdom is concerned with securing the Good of the individual

Political Wisdom is concerned with securing the Good of the state

There are important differences between the needs of the individual and the group which cause Practical and Political Wisdom to emphasize varying approaches and ideas

Political Wisdom has two branches

The supreme and comprehensive form of Political Wisdom is concerned with legislation and the ability to legislate well

The lesser form of Political Wisdom is concerned with the details of administration and is itself divided into two parts, the judicial and decision-making faculties

Practical wisdom is the first principle of good deliberation

Practical wisdom enables us to evaluate a situation or problem in terms of its general characteristics and to decide the right way and time to act

Practical wisdom makes it possible to correctly assess the means to an end by giving a true conception of that end

Practical wisdom makes it possible to correctly assess a good standard for judging approaches to the desired end

There is an important difference between good and correct deliberation

A morally weak or bad man can deliberate correctly and can attain the goal which he has decided is right for him even though the goal is bad

The result of good deliberation is always a good thing

It is possible to achieve a good goal by the wrong means through ignorance or bad judgment

The means selected by good deliberation are always good

Understanding and practical wisdom, though different things, operate in the same sphere

Practical Wisdom issues commands

Practical Wisdom's aim is to tell us what we ought and ought not to do

Understanding does not imply either possession or acquisition of Practical Wisdom

Understanding is the use of one's faculty of opinion in rightly judging statements made about matters which belong to the realm of Practical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom is the result of experience

Good Sense is an innate characteristic

Native Intelligence can be developed into Theoretical Wisdom

Innate Good Sense can be developed into Practical Wisdom

Good Sense is the quality we say a man has when he is able to forgive others

Good Sense is a sympathetic understanding and a good judgment of what is fair and equitable

Good sense, understanding, practical wisdom, and intelligence, are nearly always found in the same persons

Good sense, understanding, practical wisdom, and intelligence, all tend toward the same goal and share a concern with ultimate particular facts

Practical Wisdom contemplates the means by which men become happy

Theoretical wWisdom is concerned only with unchangeable realities

It is impossible to have Theoretical Wisdom without also having Practical Wisdom

Practical and Theoretical Wisdom are good in themselves, apart from their effects, simply because they are virtues

The exercise of wisdom is the essence of happiness

Contemplation and the life of Theoretical Wisdom constitute man's highest end

Practical Wisdom is an essential element of man's highest end

Virtue makes man choose the right ends

Practical Wisdom makes man choose the right means

Practical Wisdom cannot exist independently of virtue

The power to attain an end, whether good or bad, is mere talent or cleverness, and is raised above the level of roguery only by the presence of virtue

Practical Wisdom implies Moral Virtue

Moral Virtue implies Practical Wisdom

It is impossible to develop Moral Virtue without thorough training in Practical Wisdom

Virtue cannot be complete without the possession of Practical Wisdom

Socrates was wrong when he said that virtue was only wisdom

Socrates was right when he said that virtue is a form of knowledge

Though the Natural Virtues can exist in isolation from each other, the Moral Virtues are interdependent

Possession of any Moral Virtue implies possession of Practical Wisdom

Possession of practical Wisdom implies possession of all the Moral Virtues

A man with practical wisdom controls his instinctive tendencies and directs his own life to the highest good

The highest good is balanced development of moral character, otherwise known as virtue

Practical Wisdom is subordinate to Theoretical Wisdom

Practical Wisdom is Prudence

Prudence is excellence of the deliberative faculty of the soul and enables one to exercise right choice

Practical Wisdom is excellence of the deliberative faculty of the soul and enables one to exercise right choice

Prudence enables us to choose the right means for attaining the right ends as determined by virtue

Practical Wisdom makes the existence of Virtue possible

Practical Wisdom is not the same as Virtue

Reason is an important factor in the achievement of all the virtues

Reason is an essential element in the doctrine of the Golden Mean

The Golden Mean tells us that a virtue is the point which is midway between the extremes of excess and deficiency

Plato taught Aristotle that knowledge of the Good was the most important quest that could ever occupy the mind of man

Alpha is the uppercase form of the first letter of the Greek alphabet

Abae is the site of the oracular shrine of Apollon in Phokis near the city of Delphi

Abarbare is a Naiad, a water nymph, and the consort of Boukolion

Abarbare is the mother of the twins, Pedasos and Aisepos

Abarbare's name is also rendered as Abarbaree and Abarbarea

Abdera was the birthplace of the philosopher Demokritus and the sophist Protagoras

Abdera is a city on the coast of Thrake east of the river Nestos

Abdera was first settled in the seventh century B.C.E., and then about a hundred years later it was re-established by Ionians from Asia Minor

Ironically, the inhabitants of Abdera are mocked for their inferior minds

Abydos is a city on the Asian side of the Hellespont

Sestos is a city on the European side the Hellespont

Akademeia is an olive grove near the city of Athens which was sacred to the hero Akademus

Plato taught at the olive grove of Akademeia, ands their school became known as The Academy

Akademus assisted Kastor and Pollux in the rescue of their sister, Helen

The Achaean League is the confederacy of twelve cities in Achaea on the Peloponnesian Peninsula

The Achaean League was unique in that it was ruled by a democratic system

The Achaean League was dissolved by Alexander the Great but later reorganized in 280 B.C.E. with ten cities under the leadership of Aratus of Sikyon

The Achaean League ended when it was forcibly disbanded by the Romans circa 146 B.C.E.

Adrasteia is a name for the daughter of Nyx, and means Nemesis, and that means Divine Retribution or The Inevitable

Virtue makes man choose the right ends

Practical Wisdom makes man choose the right means

Practical wisdom cannot exist independently of virtue

It is not the mathematical Mean but the organic Mean as determined by Reason that prescribes what each individual ought to do

The nature of goodness is not purely a matter of satisfying one's desires

Desires are an important element in the good life

Desires are given guidance and direction by Reason

Unsupervised desires may hinder rather than promote the realization of the good life

In the moral virtues the emphasis is placed on the proper control of one's appetites and desires

Temperance becomes a means toward the acquisition of good health

Courage is a necessary means for the further development of one's capacities and powers

That which is a Means must always be a Means, and there must be a final end or goal which has value in itself

Wisdom is highest among all the virtues

Wisdom is the realization of a capacity which distinguishes man from the lower animals

Wisdom gives man a kind of kinship with the gods

Wisdom can be used to direct life's activities

Wisdom in contemplation enables man to find his greatest happiness and the fulfillment of that which is unique in his nature

It is through the development of the intellect that man acquires knowledge of the sciences

It is through sensation that we are made aware of that which changes from time to time

It is only through the intellect that we gain knowledge of the permanent or unchanging principles

It is only through the intellect that we gain knowledge which enables us to organize the world of our experiences

There are false intuitions as well as correct ones and it is the function of the reason to distinguish between them

It is through a type of intuitive insight that the mind grasps the principles of conduct that may point the way toward the good life

Correct Intuitions must be consistent with themselves and in harmony with all the known facts

Correct Intuitions must provide an intelligible and meaningful interpretation of one's experiences

Correct Intuitions do not often occur to the ignorant or uninformed person

One should look to those who are highly trained in the appropriate field for guidance and for suggestion

It is always possible to select the course of action which appears to be the most reasonable

It is possible to distinguish three states of badness: incontinence, vice, and bestiality

It is possible to distinguish three states of goodness: continence, virtue and superhuman virtue

Bestiality is found chiefly among barbarians

Bestiality may occasionally be produced among civilized men by disease or mutilation

Comprehension is neither having prudence or acquiring it

Comprehension and good comprehension are the same

Comprehension is not the same as scientific knowledge

Comprehension is not one of the specific sciences

Comprehension is not a belief

Comprehension and Prudence are concerned about the same things

Comprehension is not the same thing as Prudence

Prudence prescribes while comprehension judges

Comprehension consists of in the application of belief to judge someone else's remarks on a question that concerns prudence

Comprehension is neither having prudence nor acquiring it

Comprehension is about what we might be puzzled about

Comprehension is about what we might deliberate about

Correct Consideration judges what is true

The decent person has Consideration

Corect Consideration judges what is decent

Prudence and Wisdom are virtues of different parts of the Soul

Incontinence can be defined as acting from passion despite knowledge that one's acts are bad

Continence consists of knowing that one's appetites can be bad and resisting them in obedience to a rule

Plato taught that people were naturally divided into different areas of excellence

Plato taught that some people are naturally gifted to rule on moral questions

Plato taught that there existed absolute moral truths which were accessible to a few people

Plato taught the Myth of Er, which provides a fictional vision of the after life

The study of ethics is a study of the character of human beings

Man is by nature a social and political being

Man derives his moral purpose from participation in an existing community, the world of parents, ancestors, friends, customs, institutions, and laws

There is no individual existence prior to or independent of the community

Ethical enquiry must take into account the essential social and political basis of human life

The study of what makes a particular person good is inextricably a part of the more important discussion of what makes the community good

Moral theory is based on the morality of the community

Man has no complete identity or purpose without the community to which he belongs

Different communities live by different rules and have different standards of ethical conduct

We study what generally constitutes community membership so we can come to an understanding of moral excellence in any community

The student of ethics must study the world we know

The student of ethics must study the world around us

The student of ethics must study the traditions of our community and of other communities

The student of ethics must study the opinions of earlier thinkers

The student of ethics must study what we all observe about the actual behaviour of people

The theories of human conduct we inherit we must explore by an examination of the facts around us to see what they may all have in common

The practical study of ethics must be grounded in empirical enquiry

The theoretical study of moral questions will not answer any questions with certainty

An understanding of some of the principles of moral conduct requires some existing sense of virtue in the student

Ethical philosophy is not a fit subject for the young and inexperienced

Every science, investigation or action aims at some good

Goods exist in a hierarchy

The lesser goods are instrumental in seeking the higher goods

Many things are good in and of themselves

The highest good will be the final goal of purposeful striving

The highest good is something good for its own sake

The final good for human beings is eudaimonia

Eudaimonia is always an end in itself

The goodness of anything resides in its proper function

The proper function of human beings resides in the active life of the rational element

The moral excellence of human beings resides in the active life of the rational element

A life of virtue necessarily involves acting in accordance with Reason

The Good for man is an activity of the soul in conformity with the best and most complete virtues

To act in accordance with Reason is a matter of observing the principle of the Mean relative to us

Finding the Mean is finding the appropriate response between excess and deficiency in a particular situation

We must distinguish between voluntary and involuntary actions

Not all human actions arise from deliberation and choice

A complex set of intellectual virtues is necessary for human excellence

The most important of the virtues in the sphere of moral action is Practical Wisdom

Every art or applied science aims at some good

Every action and choice aims at some good

The excellence of a man will be those things which best enable the man to fulfill a social and political function

Acting virtuously requires awareness

The most morally excellent conduct will be the response appropriate to a specific set of circumstances

The moral person must be able to evaluate a particular situation

The moral person must be able to recognize a particular situation for what it really is

The moral person must be able to comprehend the present situation in relation to any actions which he might undertake to respond to it

Analytical skills come from experience, habit, and education

The moral person must have a developed sense of what he wants his life

The moral person must possess some understanding of what is appropriate for him to pursue at this stage in the development of his life

The man of practical wisdom understands how to behave from one situation to the next

The man of practical wisdom understands how tp pursue the appropriate goals in the appropriate ways

The man of practical wisdom knows how to construct his life in accordance with the realities of the world around him